One local’s quest to reinvent surfing, skiing, soaring and history
Craig Beck doesn’t dabble in hobbies.
When the longtime Tahoe local gets into something, he tends to go all in.
Whether he’s flying homemade hang gliders or working on his latest project—Tahoe Native Surfboards—Beck is...

Truckee Olympian Katerina Nash has achieved much success since her youth in communist Czechoslovakia
To be clear, Katerina Nash is not defending communism. As a child of Soviet-run Czechoslovakia and the late 1980s Velvet Revolution, she is quick to say that democracy and America are good,...

“Practically speaking, a life that is vowed to simplicity, appropriate boldness, good humor, gratitude, unstinting work and play, and lots of walking brings us closer to the actually existing world and its wholeness.” —Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild
I was fortunate enough to grow up...

“There is a Paiute proverb to the effect that no man should attempt the country east of the Sierras until he has learned to sleep in the shade of his arrows. This is a picturesque way of saying that he must be able to reduce...

Scratching a summer itch to shred at Nevada’s Sand Mountain Recreation Area
It’s mid-August, there’s not a snowflake in sight, but once again, we’re strapping in. Wishful thinking about snowboarding just isn’t enough for freaks like us.
Driving east from Fallon on lonely U.S. Highway 50, you...

Like the precious metal that once lured eager prospectors, the Lost Sierra contains miles of prime singletrack waiting to be discovered
We were huddled around the steering wheel, laughing at ourselves. Our idea for a pre-dawn start disappeared about seven hours prior. We thought we could...

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) meanders 2,650 miles from the barren desert near Mexico to the lush forests of Washington at the Canadian border. While over 40 million people live within a short drive of this mountainous trail, those who take on the challenge of...

Hundreds of miles of trails—from rough and rocky singletracks traversing high alpine ridges, to smooth, flowing trails wandering through cool, shaded forests—make the Lake Tahoe region a mecca for mountain biking.
Classic test pieces like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride on the South Shore and Hole...

Historic winter snowpack presents challenges for those in charge of releasing water from Lake Tahoe
The Truckee River is a place of refuge for rafting, fishing and contemplation. It’s also a ribbon of life supplying the water needs of downstream users from Tahoe City to Reno...

While Yosemite reigns supreme in the annals of rock climbing, the Tahoe area boasts a rich history of its own
With Yosemite as its epicenter, the Sierra Nevada is unquestionably the mecca of rock climbing.
Some argue the sport was born in the Sierra when John...